It’s widely known that members of Polaris Media Group subscribe to the principles of James Arthur Ray’s ‘The Secret’.

Before everything became centralised via the Polaris website backend many distributors advertised that they had utilised the teachings of the Secret and were all too willing to pass their expertise on.

Late last year two people died during a ‘The Secret’ event (a third died a week after the article was written), and authorities were left to decide whether or not to prosecute Arthur Ray, who was running the event, for criminal negligence.

Sometime yesterday authorities arrested Arthur Ray and have charged him with three counts of manslaughter. [Continue reading…]

Whilst talk of class action lawsuits have drifted in and out of the discussion sphere surrounding Polaris Media Group, there hasn’t really been that much of a non-internet based public challenge to distributors of the company.

Sure there’s the backlash that’s raged over the internet, but what about informing those that aren’t internet savvy? How do you reach out to those people before they’ve lost money?

Here in Melbourne at least one person has taken the fight for public awareness of Polaris Media Group to the streets… [Continue reading…]

Over the last month or so I’ve largely stayed out of the developments surrounding Polaris Media Group. Thanks to the tireless dedication of various people however, readers of OzSoapbox have been kept up to date with information as the leadership of this company appears to bottom out.

As we head towards January 2010 and wrap up what has been an interesting year for Polaris I thought I’d take some time and reflect on some correspondence I’d received over the past month.

The following was received via email and I think importantly highlights the mindset a lot of people involved in the company might be in. [Continue reading…]

By now the news of John and Shannon Lavenia, Tony Rush and Gene Braxton leaving Polaris has well and truly broken and anyone in Polaris Media Group should be aware of it.

Some people have suggested that this might be a simply re-branding ploy or an attempt to distance themselves from the Scientology link that has now plagued the Polaris Media Group business name.

After sleeping on it and going over what has been written I’m taking another approach. I do believe Lavenia, Rush and Braxton have left Polaris but it’s not because they’re rebranding another seperate direct financial opportunity.

It’s because indirectly they’re admitting the pyramid scheme business model that should be visible to anyone with half a clue is ultimately unsustainable. [Continue reading…]

Recently the CEO of Polaris Media Group, Shane Krider came out and publicly admitted he was a Scientologist. Whilst Krider is certainly free to practice whatever religion wants, what concerned me was the large question mark looming over the involvement of Scientology in the business side of Polaris.

In his statement to Polaris Media Group distributors, Krider knew this concern was at the core of people’s interest in the correlation between the two organisations and thus was one of the points he addressed.

Polaris is purely a business opportunity. We focus on helping people be the best they can and live a great life.

Simple and to the point, only I wasn’t convinced. [Continue reading…]

After months of silence, denials and accusations of rumour spreading Polaris management have finally admitted the link between Polaris Media Group and Scientology.

In an email sent out to Polaris Media Group distributors today, Polaris CEO Shane Krider has finally broken his silence and publicly admitted he is a member of the church of Scientology. [Continue reading…]

Since writing about the public connection between Scientology and Polaris Media Group a lot of accusations and claims have been thrown around as the discussion ran hot.

There’s been a lot of claims made and from what I gather the revelation of the link, which up until only recently hasn’t been publicised with any concrete proof, has made a lot of people uncomfortable.

Up until now I’ve been written off by Polaris EMC as spreading rumours, despite the fact that I didn’t tell the Lavenia’s to promote Scientology or doctor the Facebook image in which they do so.

Well it seems at least one ex-EMC member has decided to speak out. [Continue reading…]

Since Liberty League changed over to Polaris Media Group there has been much talk and insistence by Polaris supporters that Polaris is now truly about the retail products and building a retail business for yourself.

Gone are the days of promised incomes, building a sales pyramid and luring people into the business opportunity with misleading information.

A few days ago I went to check my mail and there was a little bit of paper sitting in the mailbox. As I glanced over it and walked over to the recycle bin I paused for a second and realised I might be looking at my first ever Polaris Media distributor flyer.

I’d heard rumours of Polaris flyers in widespread circulation up in Queensland and NSW but to date had not actually seen any Polaris paraphernalia down here in Melbourne.

As I got inside I went over to the computer and punched in the web address, sure enough good old Unified Wealth Solutions came up.

Now at this point I’d have most likely just thrown the flyer in the bin and left it at that. There’s hundreds of Polaris Media Group distributors marketing the same products to Australia and I certainly don’t need to write about each and every one of them.

What caught my eye with this particular advertisement was the marketing. The same nonsensical claims that got Liberty League into trouble with the Australian authorities are still being used to promote Polaris Media Group. [Continue reading…]

Since I started blogging about Polaris Media Group, one of the more unbelievable claims I’ve heard has been that Polaris is simply a front for Scientology.

Some of my readers have claimed the allegations have been flatly denied by Polaris executives and others claim that Krider and co. don’t attempt to hide their Scientology links when asked.

A thread over at scam.com is a further example of some of the claims that have been made:

The Liberty League “Inner Circle” (most EMC members) and the new owner Shane Krider are Scientologists seeking to climb “thetan” OT levels and obtain OT VIII: Truth Revealed.

Brent Payne and wife (Julia Payne) sold their share to Shane Krider for various reasons, but one main speculation is due to the fact that Shane Krider is only allowing the top trainers of Liberty League International to be trainers if they are trained, pay money, & practice Scientology communication teachings at the L Ron Hubbard Institute.

Personally I’ve refrained from writing about any possible Scientology links as, despite my criticisms of the Polaris business model, the link just seemed too far fetched.

I mean seriously, it’s Scientology we’re talking about here. Sure half the population might not know the ins and outs of the religion, but thanks to several high profile members and a continuous stream of bizarre news stories, most people know to turn around and run screaming when they see anything associated with them.

If you fall in the other half of the population you might want to read this indepth analysis of Scientology that made Time Magazine’s 1991 May front cover.

Although hugely skeptical, I never ruled out the Scientology link to Polaris but instead waited until I came across something concrete.

Today, that something came along. [Continue reading…]

We utilize the principles taught in the movie The Secret and teach people how to apply them to their life and business.

The above statement is taken directly from Rachel Oliver’s UXL website and is fairly stereotypical of the connection between James Arthur Ray’s ‘The Secret’ book/movie and Polaris Media Group.

In fact ‘The Secret’ is mentioned so frequently on Polaris Media Group associate’s websites you’d be forgiven for thinking the entire company was simply a business opportunity built around the book.

Polaris EMC member Tony Rush swears by it:

I found the movie “The Secret” to be far more credible and scientific.

So what happens when you take the credible and scientific ‘The Secret’ and apply it to an event that’s a bit more involved then your standard ‘everybody sitting in a conference room telling eachother how great they are’ event?

You wind up with two people dead. [Continue reading…]